1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to printer ribbons and systems, and in particular, to such systems that enable identification of ribbon characteristics.
2. Related Art
Printer systems utilize ink ribbons to print visually readable characters onto media, such as paper. The ink ribbon is typically wound onto a spool and may be contained in a cartridge for storage, transportation, and handling. The spool, with or without the cartridge, is mounted in the printer system. The spool then rotates as the ribbon is fed through the printer during a printing operation to transfer the ink onto the media.
Various kinds of ink ribbons with many different characteristics are available for use in printer systems. Ribbon characteristics include the fabric type, ribbon length, ink color, and ribbon width. Each type of ribbon may have several parameters that a printer system needs to be aware of in order to accommodate that particular ribbon type. For example, printing density, ribbon feed synchronization, and/or number of printing jobs available may all need to be adjusted. Identification of the various characteristics can be important for printer operation and optimization of print quality. For example, if a certain type of print ribbon spool or cartridge is inserted into a non-compatible printer, the printer may not operate at all. If a printer is set to print black characters, a color ribbon may result in poor print quality on the media. Another situation may be that the printer is unable to detect when the ribbon is depleted, resulting in possible damage to the printer or inferior or non-existent printing.
Numerous ribbon identification devices and methods have been proposed. Some determine the identification of the ribbon. Others determine whether the ribbon or cartridge is exchanged. Still others determine whether the ink or ribbon is depleted. The characteristic for identification can be placed on the ribbon or on the cartridge. For example, a material different than the ribbon can be attached near the end of the ribbon so that a detection mechanism can determine when a ribbon supply is ending. Other types of detection mechanisms can be configured to detect the amount of ink remaining on the ribbon, either by directly sensing the amount of ink on the ribbon or by measuring the amount of ink transferred onto the print media.
Identifiers can also be placed on the ribbon cartridge or ribbon core, such as a bank of color coded bands, a resistive ink identifier, or a semiconductor chip or memory storing readable ribbon characteristics. As these identifiers pass by a sensing mechanism, such as photo-optical, magnetic Hall Effect, and other proximity-type detectors, the information contained therein is read and processed. Thus, such ribbon identification schemes are usually limited in the type and amount of information that can be read by the printer system.
Further, such ribbon identification systems typically require the detection mechanism on the printer to determine the format of the identifier as well as how the identifier is to be scanned and read. This can add complexity to both the reader and the ribbon identifier.
Therefore, there is a need for a ribbon identification system that overcomes the deficiencies of conventional systems discussed above.